Buffalo Bills: Depth in secondary will be tested in Week 10
The depth of the Buffalo Bills’ secondary will be tested in Week 10.
The Buffalo Bills on Saturday announced four players were placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and three of those players were apart of their secondary as Josh Norman tested positive. The other two players in the secondary, Levi Wallace and Dean Marlowe, were considered to be in close contact and were also added to the list.
In addition to these players missing the game against the Arizona Cardinals, there is a question about whether the Bills will have Micah Hyde. The team’s starting safety suffered an ankle injury on Thursday and was limited on Friday. He was listed as questionable and will be a game-time decision for the team.
After announcing the additions to the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the Bills announced they were calling up cornerbacks Dane Jackson and Daryl Worley as well as safety Josh Thomas. These moves mean the Bills will go into this game against the Cardinals with five cornerbacks and five safeties.
These changes certainly raise questions about what this secondary might look like and this week is probably one of the worst games for the Buffalo Bills to go into with questions in the secondary. Cardinals’ quarterback Kyler Murray has thrown 280 or more yards in three of his last four games with nine touchdowns and two interceptions.
One of the reasons the Cardinals have been so successful is they are able to spread defenses out with their formations with three and four-wide receiver sets. According to Sharp Football Stats, the Cardinals lead the NFL in running 1-0 formations (one running back, four wide receivers) on 21% of their offensive snaps.
That number has increased since Week 5 with the Cardinals running that formation on 27% of their offensive snaps while the next team is actually the Buffalo Bills at 16%.
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The fact the Buffalo Bills will have Daryl Worley, who just signed last week, and Dane Jackson, who is a seventh round rookie, playing significant snaps, the Cardinals will likely try to test this secondary and play even more out of four-wide receiver sets.
The Buffalo Bills secondary is undoubtedly going to be tested early and often in Week 10.